Darth Vader
Darth Vader, born as Anakin Skywalker, is both a villain and hero character in the franchise. He is a high-ranking Jedi Knight-turned-powerful Sith Lord, and he stands as one of the most iconic and greatest villains in general fiction. He is the former apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the third and final apprentice of Emperor Palpatine (after Darth Maul and Count Dooku) and the father of Luke Skywalker and Leia Oranga, two of the main protagonists in the original film trilogy. In the saga films, Vader was the secondary antagonist of the original trilogy, serving as both the main antagonist of both , and , and the (former) secondary antagonist of before redeeming himself, and the main protagonist of the films in the prequel, although some consider him to a protagonist-villain in . In the stand-alone films, he was the protagonist of the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the secondary, later the true main antagonist in the 2016 film after Krennic is killed. In the animated television series, he is the protagonist of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the recurring antagonist in Star Wars Rebels, serving as a supporting antagonist in the season 1 and the main antagonist of season 2, specially the two-part season finale, and will likely be one of the main antagonists of the series' upcoming final season. He was portrayed by and voiced by in the original film trilogy. At the end of Return of the Jedi, he was portrayed by . In the prequel trilogy, he was portrayed by as a child in , and by as an adult in and . Christensen also played his force ghost in the 2004 version of Return of the Jedi. In Rogue One, he was portrayed by Spencer Wilding, who also played Frankenstein's monster, Grand Marshal Skaldak in the Doctor Who episode "Cold War", and one of the White Walkers in Game of Thrones while James Earl Jones returned to do his voice. In television, he was voiced by Matt Lanter in the Clone Wars series and by James Earl Jones in Star Wars Rebels. Personality After finally embracing the Dark side of the Force, Vader's personality changed completely. He was manipulative and terrifying now, so he was driven by rage, though after his defeat and mutilation on Mustafar at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was no longer as arrogant and overconfident as he previously was. Although he regained confidence in himself, it was never to the point of being outwardly cocky or conceited. Unlike most members of the Sith Order, Vader was capable of acknowledging and learning from his mistakes, due to the events on Mustafar as he was emotionally traumatized by the experience. Vader remained an impatient man, but generally presented himself as calm, positive, enthusiastic, and level-headed, as he rarely lost his temper and usually had good control over his emotions, something he was not able to do in his early 20s. He had an extremely low tolerance for failure and he did not get along at all with higher-ranking officers in the Imperial military. He had little to no tolerance for incompetence or for those who disrespected him, nearly choking Admiral Conan Antonio Motti to death when he disrespected Vader and challenge his powers of the Force. Many higher-ranking officers disliked the Sith Lord and his "sorcerer's ways" for no apparent reason. Despite his bad relationship with higher-ranking officers in the military, Vader did get along quite well with the Stormtroopers because of his front line leadership. As a general within the ranks of the Imperial Army of the Empire, Vader was renowned for his leadership skills and admired by stormtroopers, middle-ranking/low-ranking officers and politicians alike. Because of his former status as a slave, Vader also had distress when the concept of slavery was brought up. Despite what his actions wrought upon both himself and the galaxy, Vader apparently believed he was doing what was good for the galaxy. Deep down, however, he felt enormous guilt and remorse for his actions, whether he wanted to admit it or not. So much that he developed a deep self-loathing, and even nearly committed suicide at one point. Upon his fateful reunion with his former apprentice and friend Ahsoka Tano, Vader expressed no desire to rekindle the bond he once shared with her and even told her that he had killed Anakin Skywalker, when he was in fact Anakin himself (though he may have been speaking ironically). Though he did offer to spare her if she told him where the other lost Jedi were hiding, he cruelly resolved to kill her when she refused and even when she found out he was indeed her former mentor and offered him compassion. Vader was cold, brutal and ruthless towards his enemies, as he was perfectly willing to terrorize, torture and even murder them in cold-blood. He was seemingly unfailingly loyal to his master Palpatine; the latter was the closest thing Vader had to a friend. However, in truth, he secretly despised his master for deceiving him and ruining his life, as he secretly planned to overthrow him one day with his own apprentice. The only reason Vader continued to serve Palpatine after losing his wife was because the Emperor was all he had left; he was the only one that would accept him. All-in-all, Vader was only truly loyal to people he still cared about, like his son Luke, as he did everything possible to protect him from Palpatine. Upon discovering the existence of his son Luke, Vader became emotionally conflicted and displayed a sense of compassion for his son, revealing that some hint of him still held an attachment towards his family. This attachment ultimately led to his redemption. Nearing the end of his life, Vader strongly believed he was irredeemable and there was no good left in him. However, when his son Luke was being tortured by Palpatine, he finally broke away from the dark side of the force, becoming the good person he once was, sacrificed himself to save his son from Palpatine. Redeemed by Luke's love, Anakin made peace with his son before he became one with the Force and was at last reunited with his loved ones. Powers and Abilities *'The Force': As the Chosen One, Vader was immensely powerful and had an amazingly strong connection to the Force, stronger than any Force user ever in existence. He also possessed the potential to become the most powerful Force user in the history of the galaxy. However, after being burned alive on Mustafar and forced to become a cyborg, he never reached his full potential, as the physical and emotional trauma caused by his transformation greatly limited his ability to access and control the Force. Nevertheless, Vader still became one of the most powerful Force users in the history of the galaxy. **'Telekinesis': Vader was a master of Telekinesis, which he used either as offense or defense. **'Force Choke': Vader was a well known user of the Force choke, which he often used to either weaken his enemies or execute his Naval officers for incompetence. He could also do this from a great distance and seemingly only needs to be in sight of his target to choke him, as he choked Admiral Ozzel several kilometres away. **'Force Barrier': Vader utilized Force barrier, to created telekinetic barrier or wall around himself or his allies. **'Mind probe': Vader utilized mind probe to sift through the thoughts of a sentient being. **'Force Sense': Vader utilized Force sense, to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, or impending danger and the presence of the light side. **'Force Rage': Vader utilized Force rage to channel his anger to increase his speed, strength and ferocity. **'Tutaminis': Vader utilized Tutaminis to dissipate concentrated energy such as blasterbolts or lightsaber blades without his lightsaber. **'Force Deflection': Vader utilized Force deflection, to deflect incoming attacks with or without his lightsaber. **'Kinetite': Vader utilized Kinetite to subdue his opponents in an electrical field of kinetic energy **'Force Destruction': Vader utilized Force destruction to immobilize or vaporize his opponents in an energy field. *'Cyborg Strength': As a cyborg, Vader was physically stronger then most other sentient beings, enough that he can hold the pressure of several tons to effortlessly lift the weight of a grown man or crush bone with his fist. Vader uses this to his advantage in light saber combat; he uses his immense strength to easily subdue, restrain and overpower his opponents. With his cybernetic legs, he can leap great long distances. Abilities *'Lightsaber Skills': Vader was extremely skilled in light saber combat and an exceptionally formidable duelist. He also possessed the potential to become the greatest light saber duelist in the history of the galaxy. However, after being burned alive on Mustafar and forced to become a cyborg, he never reached his full potential, as his armored suit greatly limited his mobility. Nevertheless, Vader still became one of the greatest light saber duelists in the history of the galaxy. He specialized in using his skills, weight, endurance and sheer brute strength to overwhelm his opponents into confusion or exhaustion. Vader also regained some of his old agility, and his blade work became brutally effective. **'Form I': Vader was very skilled in Shii-Cho. **'Form II': After becoming a cyborg, Vader studied Makashi and became very skilled at it. **'Form III': After becoming a cyborg, Vader studied Soresu and became very skilled at it. **'Form IV': Vader was extremely skilled in Ataru. **'Form V': Vader was a master of Shien/Djem So, considered by many to be the most proficient practitioner of the form. After becoming a cyborg, he created a personal varient that included elements of all seven forms. **'Form VI': Vader was highly skilled in Niman. **'Form VII': After becoming a cyborg, Vader studied Juyo/Vaapad and became very skilled at it. **'Jar'Kai': Vader was highly skilled in Jar'Kai. *'Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant': Vader was extremely skilled in unarmed combat. *'Skilled Marksman': Vader was highly skilled in the use of blaster pistols, though he very rarely used any. *'Master Pilot': Even before his fall to the Dark side, Vader was praised as the most skilled star-pilot in the history of galaxy, a reputation he lived up to when he single-handedly almost destroyed Phoenix Squadron in a lone Tie Fighter, easily out-flying their entire fleet and forcing their command to abandon ship. Vader's only equal was his son, Luke Skywalker. *'Master Engineer': Even before his fall to the Dark side, Vader was amazingly skilled in engineering. He was able to successfully construct his red bladed lightsaber in his first try. *'Genius-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader': Even before his fall to the Dark side, Vader was amazingly intelligent; his intelligence rivaled that of even Yoda and Palpatine. As a Sith General, Vader was a highly skilled tactician and a very capable leader. *'Multilingualism': Vader was capable of fluently speaking English, Huttese, Bitt, and Sith tongue. History For the further info, see Darth Vader/Synopsis. Trivia *Eric Bui is a at Hospital who argued at the 2007 convention that Anakin meets six of the nine diagnostic criteria for (BPD), one more than necessary for a diagnosis. He and a colleague, Rachel Rodgers, published their findings in a 2010 letter to the editor of the journal . Bui says he found Anakin Skywalker a useful example to explain BPD to medical students. *Darth Vader's iconic status has made the character a synonym for evil in popular culture; psychiatrists have even considered him as a useful example to explain to medical students. *"Vader" is Dutch for "Father", foreshadowing the reveal of his true relationship with Luke and Leia. *As of now, the new sequel trilogy will be the only trilogy to NOT include Anakin at any point, but instead focus on a new villain, Kylo Ren being one of the main antagonists. The crew considered bringing Anakin back as a force ghost in the seventh film but decided against doing so. **Interestingly, Kylo Ren has some similarities where some of them were intentional by Ren himself due to him idolizing Vader when he was still a Sith Warrior where notable intended similarities include wearing mask that can amplify and project their voices. *Darth Vader's line "No, I am your father!" has become a well known memorable quote ever in Star Wars, receiving many various parodies in many media, fan fiction or merchandise alike. Although, most assume the line was, "Luke... I'' am your '''father'." One of the best and most memorable ones would be in the 1999 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 2 where Emperor Zurg that he is Buzz's father, which is a parody of the scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader tells Luke he's his father. Also at the beginning of the movie, Buzz breathes like Darth Vader. *In Toy Story 2's 2010 sequel Toy Story 3, the scene where Big Baby turns on Lots-O' Huggin' Bear parodies the scene in Return of the Jedi where Vader turns on Palpatine. *Plus in the 2014 Toy Story TV special Toy Story That Time Forgot, The Cleric parodies one of Vader's lines in A New Hope. *Many parodies of Darth Vader appeared in many various media. For example, in the Family Guy episodes based on the original trilogy, Stewie Griffin played the character only he was renamed Darth Stewie. *Darth Vader also made a guest appearance in Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian alongside with Oscar the Grouch as one of the fictional figures who wanted to join Kahmunrah's army, only to be refused due to that the latter can't understand Vader's breathing, thinking it as his language. Angered, he slams the lid of Oscar's trash can and is never seen again in the rest of the movie. *Darth Vader, alongside with Galen Marek and Master Yoda made a guest appearance in as playable characters. In the game, Darth Vader was seeking on both the power of the Soul Edge & Soul Calibur where in his ending, he successfully found what he is looking for after he finishes off Algol and took both weapons with him, bringing the Empire to a whole new level of fear. Unfortunately, it received many criticism where many Star Wars fans complained about having Star Wars characters in the Soul Calibur universe being in the game and stated that they "didn't quite fit". *Darth Vader made an appearance in the 2014 Disney special Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars, where he was the granted by Darthenshmirtz, the Star Wars version of Heinz Doofenshmirtz and was the master of Candace's C.O., the latter who was later killed for his failure to bring socks. *Darth Vader appears in Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion and is the master of the Inquisitor. *Each of Palpatine's helper in each film in the Star Wars prequels foreshadows a different aspect of what Anakin will become when he becomes Darth Vader; **Darth Maul - The deadly and merciless apprentice who enforces Palpatine's will as well as surviving a terrible injury from Obi-Wan and becoming a cyborg. **Count Dooku - The Jedi turned to the Dark Side desiring to bring order to the Galaxy and plans to overthrow his master. **General Grievous - The wheezing, heavy-breathy, Jedi-hunting Cyborg. *WatchMojo.com listed Darth Vader as #1 on their "Top 10 Iconic Movie Villains" list. *In the earlier script of The Empire Strikes Back that was written by Leigh Brackett, Darth Vader and Anakin were supposedly separate entities: Darth Vader was Anakin's murderer and when Luke confronted Vader, Anakin's spirit would guide him in their battle. George Lucas was disappointed with this as this likely wouldn't improve the saga, though unfortunately, Leigh had died before they could discuss this. So, he made the plot twist where Anakin and Vader were the same person and Vader revealed this to Luke, which not only was enjoyable for Lucas himself, but also became arguably the most memorable event in the franchise. *Vader shares similarities to the following villains: **Vegeta from Dragon Ball franchise. ***They both succeeded in destroying a planet, and tend to kill the ones they work with for failing or disobeying them. However, they're past also consist of losing their family members, and also both served a villain more evil than themselves. ***In the end, though, they fight against their leader, along with the heroes, eventually joining them, but they then die by opening up to the protagonist. However, they get brought back to life in two different ways. **Nimue from . ***The individual who used to have close relationship with them stated to the heroes that they were killed by a villain, only to reveal that the so-called villain turned out to be their own alter-ego as the said individual unable to tell the heroes that they actually turned to the dark side instead of killed (Obi-Wan Kenobi stated to Luke that Anakin was killed by Darth Vader only for Luke himself later learned that Anakin was never killed at all and Darth Vader was actually Anakin's alias as a Sith apprentice after he became evil. In Nimue's case, Merlin claims that Nimue was murdered by the first Dark One to Emma, only to Emma later learned that Nimue actually turned to the dark side and became the first Dark One herself. **Emperor Zurg from the Toy Story franchise. ***Zurg's design is a obvious parody of Vader's design and in his original appearance Toy Story 2, he repeats some of his lines from the original trilogy. When Zurg first appears before Buzz Lightyear, he parodies one of Vader's lines to Obi-Wan in A New Hope. Also during his fight with Bonus Belt Buzz, Zurg says Vader's I am your father line from The Empire Strike Back. Coincidentally Toy Story 2 and The Phantom Menace were both released the same year. **Hector Barbossa from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. ***Both of them are from a popular live-action movie series. ***Both appeared in the first movie of the series as the main antagonist (with Barbossa being the main antagonist of the first Pirates film The Curse of The Black Pearl). ***Both later return in the other movies as protagonistic characters.(although Vader was the main antagonist of the first two Star Wars movies). ***Both are widowers (in the fifth Pirates movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, it is revealed that Barbossa had a wife named Martha who passed away). ***Both are related to a hero. (Before Martha's death, they had a daughter named Carina.) ***Both of them redeemed themselves and died while saving their child (as Barbossa scarified himself to save Carina from Armando Salazar). ***Both died in a year that ends in the letter "3" (this relates to Barbossa's original death in The Curse of The Black Pearl, released in 2003 (before being brought back to life in the second Pirates film Dead Man's Chest only to be killed again in Dead Men Tell No Tales) and Vader's death in Return of The Jedi, released in 1983.) **Another Pirates of the Caribbean villain he is similar to is Davy Jones ***Both were the main antagonist of the second film in a live-action film series. (Davy was the main antagonist of Dead Man's Chest.) ***Both return in the third film of the series as the secondary antagonist (Davy was the secondary antagonist of the third Pirates film At World's End.) ***Both die in the third film. (Although Jones returned to life at the end of Dead Men Tell No Tales. ***Both of them once had a love interest. (Padme and Calypso) ***Both of them are feared by their henchmen. ***Both of them are tragic villains. ***Both of them act yet still have some redeeming qualities and both their love interests sought their redemption. ***Both work for the third film's main antagonist (Palpatine and Lord Cutler Beckett). Coincidentally both the villains that Vader and Davy work for debuted in the second film and are pure evil. **Gavin from the 2016 Blue Sky studios film Ice Age: Collision Course. ***Both debuted in a space movie released by 20th Century Fox. ***Both were the main antagonist of their first appearance. ***Both have two kids, a son (Luke and Roger and a daughter (Leia and Gertie). ***Both of their wives are gone. ***Both of them started off as villains but later redeemed themselves. *A quote made by Yoda in The Phantom Menace foreshadows the stages of Anakin's journey to becoming Vader. **''"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, Anger leads to hate, Hate leads to suffering."'' ***'Fear' - Anakin as a boy was afraid of how powerful he is or losing those who are near and dear to him. ***'Anger' - When Anakin's mother died in his arms after being tortured by the Tusken Raiders, he retaliated by killing them all. He made a vow to become the most powerful Jedi ever. ***'Hate' - Anakin put a lot of his trust in Chancellor Palpatine, despite the Jedi Council's distrust towards him. When they denied to give Anakin the rank "Master", he believed this was because they were afraid of him. He turned his back on the Jedi even his own master to join the Sith. ***'Suffering' - Anakin made so many sacrifices to save his family, only for it to be for nothing and left him in a state of depression as a servant for the dark side. He lost the love of his life, his children (unaware that they were alive), his friendship with his master and most of his own humanity. **In Star Wars Rebels, the face of Vader is less damaged than in Return of the Jedi. External links *Darth Vader on Star Wars Wookieepedia. *Darth Vader on Black Knights Wikipedia. *Anakin Skywalker on Heroes Wiki. *Darth Vader on Star Wars Rebels Wiki. 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